A look at the life of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who died Saturday at the age of 85:

Feb. 26, 1928: Born to Russian immigrants in farming community of Kfar Malal north of Tel Aviv.

1948: Having joined Jewish guerrillas at age 14 in war to build a Jewish state in Palestine, Sharon serves with distinction in Israel's "war of independence" and is severely wounded in battle.

1953: Heads Unit 101, force carrying out attacks on Palestinian refugees. Sharon's troops blow up more than 40 houses in Qibya, a village in the Jordan-ruled West Bank. Sixty-nine Arabs die, about half of them women and children. Sharon says later he thought the houses were empty.

1956: Rebuked after engaging his troops in what commanders regard as unnecessary and unplanned battle with Egyptian forces at Mitla Pass in Sinai Peninsula.

1971: Placed in charge of curbing Arab resistance in Gaza Strip. More than 100 suspected militants killed and hundreds detained.

1973: Commands drive by Israeli troops across Suez Canal into Egypt during Mideast war. Daring assault cuts off Egypt's 3rd Army and helps turn tide in fighting. His head grazed by bullet during fighting.

December 1973: Elected to parliament on Likud ticket.

1974: Resigns from Parliament.

1975: Appointed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as an adviser on security affairs.

1977: Likud wins election and is joined by Sharon, who has been elected to parliament on separate ticket.

1977-81: As Menachem Begin's agriculture minister, begins push to build dozens of illegal Jewish settlements in West Bank and Gaza Strip, despite Palestinian and international protest.

Settlements are one of most contentious issues in current peace negotiations.

April 25, 1982: As defense minister, overrides resistance from Jewish settlers in Yamit settlement during Israeli withdrawal from Sinai Peninsula, and has their homes bulldozed to rubble.

June 6, 1982: Engineers Israel's invasion of Lebanon, portraying it as quick, limited strike to drive Palestinian fighters from Israel's northern border. But Israeli troops advance to outskirts of

Beirut and war escalates. Fighting continues in southern Lebanon until Israel withdraws in 2000.

1986: Sharon wins libel suit against Time Magazine in U.S., where a jury finds the magazine made a factual error in claiming a secret Israeli report said Sharon had discussed revenge with

Lebanese officials before the massacre. But the jury says Time is not liable for monetary damages.

1997: An Israeli court dismisses another libel suit filed by Sharon against an Israeli journalist who wrote that Sharon had deceived former Prime Minister Menachem Begin in leading the country to war. An appeal is also rejected.